Halichondria

Halichondria is a genus of sea sponges belonging to the family Halichondriidae. These are massive, amorphous sponges with clearly separated inner and outer skeletons consisting of bundles of spicules arranged in a seemingly random pattern.

This genus of sponges became important through the discovery of cell division limiting properties of the extract Halichondrin B, which inhibits cell mitosis. The drug Eribulin, a related compound and an inhibitor of microtubule function, has become an important chemotherapy treatment for certain types of cancer.

Species
The following species are recognised in the genus Halichondria:
 * Subgenus Eumastia Schmidt, 1870
 * Halichondria attenuata (Topsent, 1915)
 * Halichondria maraensis Kim & Sim, 2009
 * Halichondria schmidti Dendy, 1895
 * Halichondria sitiens (Schmidt, 1870)
 * Subgenus Halichondria Fleming, 1828
 * Halichondria adelpha de Laubenfels, 1954
 * Halichondria agglomerans Cabioch, 1968
 * Halichondria aldabrensis Lévi, 1961
 * Halichondria almae (Carballo, Uriz & García-Gómez, 1996)
 * Halichondria arenacea Dendy, 1895
 * Halichondria arenosa Hentschel, 1929
 * Halichondria axinelloides Swartschewsky, 1906
 * Halichondria bowerbanki Burton, 1930
 * Halichondria brondstedi De Laubenfels, 1936
 * Halichondria brunnea (Schmidt, 1868)
 * Halichondria cancellosa (Carter, 1886)
 * Halichondria capensis Samaai & Gibbons, 2005
 * Halichondria carotenoidea Alvarez & Hooper, 2011
 * Halichondria cartilaginea (Esper, 1794)
 * Halichondria cebimarensis Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001
 * Halichondria coerulea Bergquist, 1967
 * Halichondria colossea Lundbeck, 1902
 * Halichondria contorta (Sarà, 1961)
 * Halichondria convolvens Sarà, 1960
 * Halichondria cornuloides Burton, 1954
 * Halichondria cristata Sarà, 1978
 * Halichondria cylindrata Tanita & Hoshino, 1989
 * Halichondria darwinensis Hooper, Cook, Hobbs & Kennedy, 1997
 * Halichondria diazae Van Soest & Hooper, 2020
 * Halichondria diversispiculata Burton, 1930
 * Halichondria dubia (Czerniavsky, 1880)
 * Halichondria elenae Gastaldi, De Paula, Narvarte, Lôbo-Hajdu & Hajdu, 2018
 * Halichondria fallax (Marshall, 1892)
 * Halichondria flexuosa (Sarà, 1978)
 * Halichondria foetida (Wilson, 1894)
 * Halichondria foraminosa (Czerniavsky, 1880)
 * Halichondria fragilis Kieschnick, 1896
 * Halichondria gageoenesis Kang & Sim, 2008
 * Halichondria genitrix (Schmidt, 1870)
 * Halichondria gilvus Samaai & Gibbons, 2005
 * Halichondria glabrata Keller, 1891
 * Halichondria heterorrhaphis Breitfuss, 1912
 * Halichondria intermedia Brøndsted, 1924
 * Halichondria isthmica (Keller, 1883)
 * Halichondria japonica (Kadota, 1922)
 * Halichondria knowltoni Bergquist, 1961
 * Halichondria labiata Hentschel, 1929
 * Halichondria lambei Brøndsted, 1933
 * Halichondria lendenfeldi Lévi, 1961
 * Halichondria leuconoides Topsent, 1890
 * Halichondria longispicula (Czerniavsky, 1880)
 * Halichondria lutea Alcolado, 1984
 * Halichondria magniconulosa Hechtel, 1965
 * Halichondria marianae Santos, Nascimento & Pinheiro, 2018
 * Halichondria melanadocia Laubenfels, 1936
 * Halichondria membranacea (Sarà, 1978)
 * Halichondria microbiana Alvarez & Hooper, 1911
 * Halichondria migottea Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001
 * Halichondria minuta Keller, 1891
 * Halichondria modesta (Pulitzer-Finali, 1986)
 * Halichondria moorei Bergquist, 1961
 * Halichondria muanensis Kang & Sim, 2008
 * Halichondria nigrocutis (Carter, 1886)
 * Halichondria normani Burton, 1930
 * Halichondria oblonga (Hansen, 1885)
 * Halichondria okada (Kadota, 1922)
 * Halichondria osculum Lundbeck, 1902
 * Halichondria oshoro Tanita, 1961
 * Halichondria oxiparva (Sarà, 1978)
 * Halichondria panicea (Pallas, 1766)
 * Halichondria papillaris (Pallas, 1766)
 * Halichondria pelliculata Ridley & Dendy, 1886
 * Halichondria phakellioides Dendy & Frederick, 1924
 * Halichondria poa (de Laubenfels, 1947)
 * Halichondria pontica (Czerniavsky, 1880)
 * Halichondria prostrata Thiele, 1905
 * Halichondria punctata Bergquist, 1970
 * Halichondria renieroides (Fristedt, 1887)
 * Halichondria semitubulosa (Lamarck, 1814)
 * Halichondria solidior (Schmidt, 1870)
 * Halichondria stylata Diaz, Pomponi & Van Soest, 1993
 * Halichondria suberosa (Esper, 1794)
 * Halichondria sulfurea Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001
 * Halichondria surrubicunda Hoshino, 1981
 * Halichondria syringea Pulitzer-Finali, 1996
 * Halichondria tenebrica Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001
 * Halichondria tenuiramosa Dendy, 1922
 * Halichondria tenuispiculata Brøndsted, 1916
 * Halichondria turritella (Schmidt, 1870)
 * Halichondria velamentosa (Hansen, 1885)
 * Subgenus unassigned
 * Halichondria albescens sensu Johnston, 1842
 * Halichondria flava (Merejkowski, 1878)
 * Halichondria hongdoenesis Kang & Sim, 2008
 * Halichondria kelleri Van Soest & Hooper, 2020
 * Halichondria lona Laubenfels, 1936
 * Halichondria magellanica Dendy, 1924
 * Halichondria ulleungensis Kang & Sim, 2008